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The challenge

A new, clutter-free way of making everyday payments.

Boston-based startup Loop has invented the first mobile wallet – enabling users to manage all their payment cards incorporating a magnetic strip (credit or debit cards, loyalty cards, gift cards) via an application and devices on their own smartphone, so they can make secure payments virtually anywhere. Loop Wallet uses Magnetic Secure Transmission (MST) technology – when a smartphone is placed within range, this can transform any POS system into a contactless reader by reproducing the same magnetic field that is created by swiping a card.

Loop is taking on a daunting task: the challenge of persuading people to give up using their actual wallet and try out a simpler, clutter-free payment method using their own smartphone. This same challenge has been taken up by major players such as Google, PayPal, MasterCard and Coin, all of them looking for a way of reinventing the consumer’s everyday payment experience.

The people

Pay smart, with ease

In a world where the average person has at least 13 magnetic payment cards – credit cards, loyalty cards, gift cards – the wide variety of available options can be overwhelming. That’s why it’s vital to be able to choose the right card for the occasion without wasting valuable time, missing opportunities to save on purchases and – just as important – without carrying a wallet crammed with plastic cards.

Whether people want to keep up with the latest shopping trends or simply economise on household goods, they have the same needs: simplicity and minimal clutter.

Our vision

All-in-one smartphone and wallet

Imagine a payment method that enables people to make a purchase simply by placing their own smartphone within range of a shop’s POS system, so wallets can be left at home. That saves them all those embarrassing moments in the checkout queue hunting around for the right card. That no longer causes them to miss a promotional discount or to waste a gift voucher.

Imagine a modern payment and purchase system that prioritises consumers and their need for security and lack of clutter, freeing them from the burden of plastic and making it easier and simpler to manage their payment cards.

Our project

A strategy for clutter-free payment

We’ve been rethinking the way in which current and potential customers perceive the Loop brand, while helping this startup company devise an innovative payment method by strategically visualising the experience of the end user through a system designed around a smartphone, hardware and an application - and centred around the modern consumer requirements of speed, security and simplicity.

A method with a personal touch

We’ve created new brand guidelines for Loop in order to identify the most effective way of engaging the end user, underlining this startup company’s core values and emphasising Loop’s capacity to add value to people’s everyday purchasing experience.

Simplicity and control (as simple as a swiishh)

The application’s user interface allows the end user to manage their cards in a way that is simple and intuitive, by uploading them in a single action and selecting the most suitable one for a particular purchase in the space of a few seconds.

An easy-to-follow procedure

Loop’s strategy envisages a smooth and easy-to-follow procedure that encompasses the whole service: from the initial application download right up to the moment of purchase with the user’s selected payment card, and including the choice of a device that is suitable for their lifestyle and for inserting their cards into the application.

Evolution

Just a smartphone, ditch the rest.

The envisioning and strategic planning of the user experience will be used by Loop in the near future, to restructure the whole ecosystem created by the application, devices and website.

Loop’s ultimate aim is to break away completely from physical products and the use of the smartphone as the sole method of payment. Samsung shares the same vision and that is a driving reason given for the acquisition of Loop in February 2015.

Impact

Loop’s new payment experience design won Best of Show at Finnovate Spring 2014 in San Francisco, in competition with over 1,250 other innovative experiences. This milestone propelled Loop into the forefront of players in this space and earned the attention of Samsung. LoopPay is now reported to become a technology and experience which will be integrated into the new line of Galaxy Phones.